The Children
by MYZ-chan
Summary: -JasdeviLenalee- She never really expected to find herself taking care of two seven-year-old Noah's who had nearly killed her. -AU-


Word Count: 6,332. Oh yeah.

This was originally meant to be just a really cute one-shot (you can tell by the beginning) that dragged on and on. Eventually, however, it got turned into this, a family/friendship story that ends up being really cute and dramatic anyways. Huh. This was also supposed to have a totally different angsty, horrible ending. But then I just couldn't do it. It would be much too disappointing to myself and the readers, I thought, so I substituted it with the ending you can see below.

I did enjoy writing the children as I thought they would be, and how they developed around Lenalee and how Lenalee developed around them, and how they kept those traits when they changed back. That was really fun for me, but I hope you don't find it too OOC.

Enjoy! And also, I'll update Dancing in the Stars as soon as I find the document with Part Six in it. Until then, drown yourself in this.

* * *

"'M hungry."

Lenalee sighed and looked at the little boy tugging at her skirt. Jerry, Allen, Kanda, and Lavi only stared at him, mouths gaping open in horror and shock. The boy opened his blue eyes just a bit wider, gold hair framing his gaunt face in an expression so cute that Lenalee found herself wavering against its power.

She hated her brother at this moment. Yes. It was his fault for keeping those two Noah boys that were trapped inside the ark captive and experimenting on them. Yes. It was most definitely all his fault that now, thanks to their experiments, they had been turned into two, quiet, and needy little children that had latched themselves onto her like leeches did to its prey and kept following her around everywhere she went.

Oh yes. When Lenalee and the rest of them were out of this situation, she was going to kick her brother right where it really, really hurt. Never mind his screams—this time, he really deserved it, even more than that time with Komlin and the coffee. How could he have done such a horrible thing to both her and these children? Did he have no shame what so ever?

As she contemplated, she supposed he didn't. That was probably why he kept rebuilding and rebuilding that robot in the first place, even though more than half of the science department objected to it.

She shook herself out of her distracted train of thought and came back to the reality with a small blond child and an issue of hunger. Well, she mused, at least the blonde one was nicer—at least, when he was a kid. Kids tended to be kinder, though that was not always the case.

"Can I have something to eat?" he mumbled, stitched up lip jutted out slightly in impatience and pleading. "Please?"

Allen's face was slowly paling as he glanced at Lenalee's own pallid complexion. He then butted in, much to Lenalee's relief and gratitude. Allen was better with kids than she was—he would know what to do with him. "A—ah, Lenalee will get you something to eat later. Where's your twin?"

The little boy shied away from him and clung to Lenalee's skirt, much to Allen's apparent dismay. "David's with Creepy," he blurted out and hid his face in her skirt. Lenalee could only stare at his full head of golden hair in dismay, not able to bring herself to pull him off. Why were they so cute (even the black haired one was, even though he was far more vicious than his twin) and pathetically adorable? They were supposed to be Noah, for crying out loud—it wasn't in their nature to be cute. Why was God so cruel?

"C—creepy?" Allen asked concernedly, trying to peer at the little boy without disturbing Lenalee too much at staring somewhere uncomfortably close to her private areas. "Who's Creepy?"

"The man with the glasses and weird curly hair," the boy said, voice muffled in the middle of Lenalee's skirt. "He's creepy. He's got David."

"Oh." Allen looked even more concerned, glancing up at Lenalee questioningly. She only looked at him helplessly, not knowing what to do. So the other one was with her brother. And? Komui probably just wanted to do a few tests on him, see what was wrong and how to fix the little kid, put him back to his normal size and mind. "Do you know what he's doing with David?"

The boy shook his head. "No. Creepy let me go and made David stay, even though he really, really didn't want to. Now I don't know what's going on and I'm still hungry." The little boy's lip wobbled as he looked up. Lenalee and Allen both found their hearts begin to give out to him reluctantly, Lenalee especially. Perhaps it was her motherly instincts emerging for the first time. "Is Creepy going to do something to David?"

Lenalee's heart finally melted under the sheer cute of the little boy—Jasdero, she remembered he was called. "No, he's not," she soothed him. He looked up at her, blue eyes watery and shining. Her heart promptly began to melt once again after starting to auto-repair. The cute was too strong to resist. "I'm sure—" She contemplated saying 'my brother' before deciding that that would be a bit risky to the little boy's trust in her. "I'm sure Creepy won't do anything bad to David. He'll just check over him is all, check to see if he's all right."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Jasdero promptly looked as fearful as the time when he had woken up chained to a lab table with his older twin beside him. "Is something wrong with David?"

"No, no," Jerry said, scooting in to face the little boy. "Nothing's wrong with David. Creepy is just going to see if there's anything he can do to make sure that David gets everything he needs." He held his hand out to Jasdero, who eyed it very cautiously. "Now come. I'll make you some food. What do you want?"

Jasdero, after staring at the hand for a few minutes, took it carefully and was led away by the cook. "Curry, please."

The remainder in the room blinked. "Curry?" asked Lavi, sounding a bit nauseous. "Isn't that a bit strong for a seven year old?"

"Not to him apparently," Allen said, sighing and pulling his hair behind his ear as he finally stood from his kneeling position. He popped a few joints and sighed in relief and slight pain. "I wonder though. If those two were like that when they were seven, how did they end up like how they were in the Ark? Does it make sense?"

Kanda scowled, his familiar trademark throughout the madness. "Not particularly. But think about it—when Krory woke up, he told us about them. Remember what he said?" Kanda paused here, taking a short time to take a breath before continuing. "He said that they had been mistreated when they were younger—he could feel it. He had even seen that they had reacted badly when he asked them if they had been treated similarly to him when they were younger. That's probably why they act like this." He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall. "I am a bit interested in how the blond one got those stitches on his mouth, though."

The rest of the people in the room blinked and turned to stare at him.

"What?" Kanda asked, looked disturbed at all the people staring.

"You're…interested, Yuu? And you were actually paying attention to what Krory-kins said?" This was Lavi, obviously, who earned a scowl from the sword-wielder. The redhead ignored the look and grinned mischievously. "That's odd. And so unlike you, Yuu. Did something infect you?"

"No, damn it!" the boy snapped back, his scowl deepening as he stomped out of the room. "And don't call me Yuu!" he snapped from behind him. Eventually, his black ponytail slipped out of sight and the three remaining turned back towards each other and continued the conversation without him.

"So, Lenalee. What do you think Komui's going to do about this situation? It's not like he can tell the superiors that he just turned two Noah into kids who are now running freely throughout the Order's domain. What if that other creepy guy decides to do something to the kids?" This was Lavi again, his inquisitive nature peeking in through the cracks.

Lenalee could have laughed if the situation weren't so dire. "I don't know. Honestly, I think he'll just try to pass the situation up as something ridiculous, like adoption."

Allen frowned. "Adoption isn't silly."

"Here in the Order if you adopt someone it is silly Allen-kun. No offense, of course." She sighed and passed a hand over her eyes. "I hope this doesn't end up in disaster, although I might be hoping for too much."

Lavi was the one who managed to laugh as the smell of curry reached their noses. "Yeah, you might be. But hey, you could also be right. Who knows, maybe the kids won't be as bad as they seemed—"

There was a crash from down the hall, and all three of them whipped their heads around in the general direction.

"What…was that?" Lenalee asked uncertainly, peering down the corridor questioningly. "It sounded as if something fell over."

Allen leaned his head out the opening and tilted his ear towards the direction of the noise. "It sounds…" he said, concentrating on the noise. "It sounds as if someone is running towards her—oof!"

The next moment Allen was barreled into by a dark-headed boy of seven years, with skin as pale as the blonde's and dark blue eyes wide with panic. The boy skidded around and lunged for Lenalee. She yelped and couldn't quite dodge in time as the boy's arms wrapped around her waist firmly, his expression desperate.

"W—what is it?" she stammered out, recognizing the little boy as David. "Is something wrong? Did something scare you?"

Her question was answered the next moment as her brother burst into the room, once again running into Allen (the poor boy who was now smashed face first into the wall) and turning to face the little boy and Lenalee. His eyes widened as he panted, his large drill out and ready to go. "David," Komui said, his voice sounding rather desperate. "David, I'm not going to hurt you. This drill is only for precautionary measures. I'm not going to use it on you at all, all right?"

David shook his head fervently, glaring at the drill with a look very akin to hate. "You're lying! And you're really creepy! Where's Jasdero?" He bored his blue eyes into Komui's black ones, expression defensive and furious. "Where is he?" His grip tightened on Lenalee's waist and she winced. For a child, he was a bit too strong for her liking.

As if on cue, Jasdero burst in from the next room, ignoring Jerry's shouts as he chased him. He flung himself to David and squeezed both Lenalee and David in a hug now so tight Lenalee could barely breath. "David! I missed you! Did Creepy try to hurt you?"

David puffed up in pride and relief. "As if! I got out in time before he could attack me with his evil drill thing."

Jasdero's eyes widened as he stared at his older brother. "Really?"

"Yeah! No way that Creepy is ever going to get me!"

Komui looked quite exasperated. "Boys, I am not going to hurt either of you. And I'm not creepy! Now get back here and let me do a check up. I'm not going to use my drill. See?" He dumped it into the approaching Jerry's hands, sending the man staggering backwards. "Now can you please come back? All I have to do now is check your arms and that's it." He sent a pleading expression at Lenalee. It very plainly said _help me_ written across in bold ink. "If you don't feel comfortable without Lenalee, we can bring her along you know. I'm sure she wouldn't mind." _Please don't_, pleaded his eyes.

No matter how mad Lenalee was at her brother, she still felt a bit of pity for him as she looked down at the two boys clinging to her skirt as if it were a protective seal from her older brother. They were a bit of a handful, even though they were much more harmless than their older selves. She should just be thankful that they didn't even have their abilities or their older selves back yet. Or their rather vivid memories from then. Yes, that was something to be thankful for.

The two boys gazed back up at her, expression pleading. David actually pouted and whispered, "Please come. We don't like him at all." Jasdero nodded, clutching her skirt even tighter. Both of their blue eyes were wide and begging. She could only stare back.

Allen, who had picked himself off of the wall and wiped his bleeding nose, stared with Lavi at the same time at the two children.

Lenalee felt herself die inside just a bit.

Oh yes. She was definitely going to hurt her brother now.

---

"Okay," Komui said, taking a rather large needle from his overly messy desk and looked back at the nervous looking David sitting on the table. "Now, I just need you to hold out your left arm and be brave!"

"What do you—" The boy's eyes widened as he stared at the needle in Komui's hand in panic. "B—but you said that you weren't going to hurt me!" His voice sounded squeaky as he attempted to crawl off the table and failed rather miserably.

Lenalee had to agree with the child. Needles did count as a painful mechanism. Her brother should have known this, and she glanced at him, her expression questioning. He stared right back at her. Komui looked like he was going to start having a seizure if David didn't calm down and if his twin counterpart didn't stop trying to 'save David' at ever possible opportunity.

She began to feel a bit sympathetic with the Earl against her own will. If these two had become who they are at this age and he picked them up then, what kinds of horrors could he have gone through? How could he have stood them for so long? The Order had only been taking care of them for less than a week and already most of its workers were starting to lose their minds.

Jasdero was attempting another 'rescue mission' at the moment, and Lenalee reached over and pulled him gently off the table while pushing David back on as gently as she could for someone who had, earlier, mocked her and hit her with his gun. Yes. As gently as she could. She shouldn't lose her temper at him. After all, right now he was just a child. He was helpless. He had no idea of what he had done.

Right?

"David," she said gently as the child stared at her in disbelief at her betrayal. "David, it's just a shot. It will fend off bacteria and all sorts of things you don't want to get. It's best if you just take it and get it over with."

The child's brow furrowed. Then, he spoke back up forcefully. "What's in it for me?"

Now she was the one staring at him in disbelief. "What's in it for you?" she repeated dumbly. "What do you mean?"

He nodded, scowling cutely. "I'm going to have to get a needle stuck in my arm, so I should get something to show me that I did something good." He eyed her suspiciously. "Right?"

She sighed and looked at Komui, who nodded fervently. "Alright, fine. What would you want?"

His eyes brightened considerably. "Really?"

"Yes," she sighed. "Really."

He grinned brightly. "Omelets! With the egg still there! The whole thing!" He spread his arms out wide, almost knocking his little brother right back off of the table.

Komui and Lenalee stared at him and he lost some of his bravado, shying away from their gaze and went to picking at the cotton pad filled with rubbing alcohol stuck to his arm uncomfortably.

"All right," Komui said after a moment. "We'll get you an omelet after I give you a shot. Now hold out your arm and look away."

The boy obliged and yelped as the needle punctured his skin. Komui then inconspicuously swabbed the boy's arm for his blood before fully prodding the needle in as a suspicious yellow fluid ran out and into the boy's bloodstream. He then pulled out the needle, pasted a bandage on the puncture wound and smiled widely at the slightly pale-faced boy. "All done! See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

The boy didn't respond and merely stared at Komui, looking positively terrified before scrambling off the table and nearer to his brother, who also looked quite afraid and huddled with him, staring at the needle in Komui's hand with hate.

"You—you didn't even warn me!" David yelped.

"I did so!" Komui shot back, frowning at them disapprovingly.

At that moment, as those two boys clung to each other and stared at Komui, Lenalee realized that they weren't brothers. No, they were something far different then that. As they huddled together and stared at them cautiously, so cautiously and equally it was as if they were of single mind, it hit her. They were halves. They were halves of one person, and that was why they were so desperate to hang onto one another, to keep in touch and thought more so than any other brother or sister pair she had seen.

_It was scary_, Lenalee thought as she stared, _to be separated from one half of your being at all._

She finished staring and leaned down, holding out her hand towards them both. "Well," she said softly, "You finished your shot. We should get you that omelet now. And you, Jasdero, should finish that curry that Jerry made for you."

Hesitating only for a few moments they scrambled up and clutched her skirt again as she led them out of the room, feeling rather like a mother duck with her little ducklings under her wings.

As she walked out of the room with them, she saw a shining Komui in the background at the sight. She sighed. Her brother was never going to change.

She came back later when the boys were busy stuffing their faces in the kitchen. "So?" she asked, leaning over the table at the data piling up on the screen from David's blood sample. "How does it look?"

Komui sighed and pulled off his glasses, rubbing his shirt. He looked more tired than ever before, Lenalee thought worriedly. "Not too good. Apparently, almost everything inside their bodies has changed. Everything, down to their mental structure, their physical wellbeing, the way they move, everything except their Noah genes! And even that's shrunken down to a high level!" He groaned and threw the glasses down onto his desk. They landed with a clatter, skidding a few feet before coming to a stop. "I wish I had never started that stupid experiment in the first place. I have absolutely no idea how to even change them back fully and still keep their powers in check."

Lenalee patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry brother. You'll find a way somehow. I'm sure of it." She turned and began to walk out of the room, only to hear Komui call after her.

"Lenalee?"

She turned back around expectantly. "Yes brother?"

His expression was worn and pleading. "Can I have some coffee please? I have a feeling this is going to be a long night."

She smiled at him and began to walk out again. "Sure."

"Thank you!" Komui called out at her retreating back. "You're the greatest Lenalee!"

---

She didn't know how they were even going to get any proper sleep that night if they kept following her around like this. As she turned the corner they followed, treading behind her silently, like two little ghosts (rather like that one from before, but she would rather not think about that at the moment) in the corridor. When she turned they always scurried behind a pole or a random object to hide none too discreetly.

Lenalee had to admit to herself that it was rather cute_. Still,_ she reprimanded silently, _shouldn't brother or someone take them to a proper bedroom to sleep in about now?_

She decided to go check on that now as she rounded another corner into the lab. Reever glanced up from his work at the sound of her feet padding in, blinking at the silent ones following her. "Hey Lenalee. Is something wrong?" He glanced pointedly at the two Noah-but-no-really children behind her. The two of them tensed and lean back from his gaze, and Lenalee sent a warning glance at him.

"Yes, actually." She sensed David flinch, and she quickly began to edit her words. "I was wondering where these two were going to sleep. They should have a proper bed and everything."

Johnny came in holding a stack of paperwork in his hands. He also blinked at the two tiny children before remembering who they were and shying away slightly. "Did you say something about sleeping quarters?" he asked, somehow managing to push his glasses back up his nose. "Because there's an empty room right down the hall. We can have someone dust it out right now and let them sleep in there." He looked down at the children in question. "Is that okay with you guys?"

Jasdero and David nodded their heads in acquisition, glancing back at Lenalee for some reason that she couldn't comprehend.

"Great! Hey Roy, get over here and help me put this stuff down so we can go to that old place down the hall."

The two men finally took the papers, set them down on Reever's desk (much to his displeasure) and strolled out, chatting amiably with a bunch of dusters in their hands.

Lenalee watched them go with a feeling of relief in her chest before looking down at the children. They shied away again before David (always the bold one) came up to her and stared as hard as he could at her.

"Yes? Is there something you want, David?"

His eyes widened at the use of his name before he answered again. "Are you going to go away after you leave us there?"

She stared at him. He stared back at her resolutely, waiting for her answer firmly. Behind him, Jasdero fidgeted at his brother's—counterpart, Lenalee reminded herself—boldness.

"Of course not," she said, attempting to sooth the boy. "I'll be down the hall too. You can find me there if you need anything!"

David's jaw jutted out in defiance. "No, we won't! We won't need anything at all!" He gave a little snort and looked away, crossing his arms stubbornly. Jasdero copied him immediately, turning away as well and crossing his arms as firmly as his other half's.

Lenalee smiled.

---

Lenalee had absolutely no idea what time it was when she felt a single body with a lot of hair crawl in bed next to her. She had mumbled, turned slightly, awoken from her dream (unfortunately a good one—couldn't they have woken her up while she was having a nightmare?) only to see Jasdero huddled next to her. His eyes were wide open, unfocused, frightened, and his whole, frail body was shaking.

"Jasdero?" she asked, concern rising in her chest like a torrent. "Jasdero, what's wrong?" She reached out cautiously, brushing some hair from his face. "Did you have a bad dream?"

He only stared before he answered, his voice shaking and cracking in places. "I saw David dying," he said. Tears began to well up in his eyes and fall over the lids, spilling sideways and onto the sheets. "Daddy killed David and Mommy didn't do anything to help. She was only there, and she watched Daddy like she really liked Daddy hurting David." He hiccupped, tears flowing more steadily. "Then after Daddy killed David he pulled apart my mouth and put it back together with really weird string." He sobbed even louder, though Lenalee could see he was trying to control himself. "I don't want to tell David what I saw. We don't see each other's dreams, and he'll only worry if he knows." He looked at her, and her heart promptly began to melt all over again. "Don't tell him, okay?"

She smiled softly and brushed back some more of his hair from his face, containing some of her horror at the mentioning of the boy's father and mother killing his other half. Those were thoughts and dreams that no child, no matter what his genes had told his heart and mind, should ever have in their life. The golden locks had once again fallen down over his face when he had started shaking even more violently than before. "I won't. I promise."

He curled up in a small ball in the bed, looking more comforted than he had before, and she pulled some covers over him to keep him warm. She watched his tiny chest rise and fall, and wondered how this child could have ever been cursed to become a Noah. Were God and the Devil that cruel to humanity?

It was only a few hours later when she felt the second body crawl in beside her on the other side. She tilted her head slightly to see a mop of black hair and blue eyes—darker than his other part's, she now noticed—beside her neck.

David looked at her, slightly fearful, slightly desperate as he huddled deeper under the covers. Little tears were spilling down his neck and chin in little shining rivers that trickled down onto the pillows. "You won't tell Jasdero?" he whispered.

Lenalee looked at him for a while. She could still see the teenager from before sneering at her, taunting her, hitting her. She could still see the teenager who claimed to be so strong, stronger than Allen-kun ever would be.

She smiled anyways, pushing away the bad memories from before and making more room for him without disturbing the other one on the other side of her body. "I won't. I promise."

---

"Lenalee! Lenalee!"

She turned at the two simultaneous voices and wasn't too surprised to see Jasdero and David tearing down the hall with mixed looks of glee and terror on their faces. A cloud of dust floated behind them, and their clothes were already dirty. _Brother will not be happy about that_, she noted. "What is it?" she asked, standing up from the table to let the boys cling to her legs as an immediate protective mechanism. The finders and exorcists around them stared in bemusement. _Still?_ She thought exasperatedly. _It's been weeks already. Get used to it._

"Kanda is chasing us again!" Jasdero laughed wildly (and slightly terrified). "He's mad 'cause we—"

"—ate all of his soba and stuff," David cackled and finished, sticking his tongue out in the direction of the second approaching cloud in the distance, revealing an extremely irked Kanda running full speed towards them. Lenalee saw with great concern that Mugen was unsheathed and ready to go. Oh dear. "He doesn't need all that food anyway! It'll make him fat."

Jasdero nodded gleefully, stitched mouth spreading wide apart. He was, Lenalee noticed happily, a lot better than when he first arrived. It was a great improvement. Perhaps that would show once he got back to his normal form—_if he did at all_, Lenalee reminded herself. "Yeah! Really, really fat!"

Kanda skidded to a stop in front of them, pointing Mugen at the half hooting, half trembling boys in front of him. "Lenalee," he gritted through his teeth, Mugen practically trembling with fury. "Lenalee, hand those twerps over. Right. Now."

Lenalee placed her hands over the boys protectively. The onlookers watched with bated breath at the showdown. "What will you do to them then, Kanda?"

He growled, looking positively sadistic. "I'll cut their throats open."

She stood strong in front of him. "You can't do that, Kanda."

"I can and I will! Those little twerps ate my soba! Nobody eats my soba and gets away with it." He eyed the boys evilly. They squeaked and huddled behind Lenalee as far as they could go without losing sight of the exorcist.

"What about Allen-kun?" Lenalee teased, stalling for more time as she glanced around. Why couldn't Lavi or Allen be in here right now? They knew how to control Kanda better than she could. "Allen-kun gets away with eating your food all the time, Kanda. Haven't you noticed?"

The look on his face showed that he hadn't, and Lenalee giggled slightly. "You really haven't?"

He recovered quickly and began eyeing the boys again. "Let me at them, Lenalee."

She stood her ground. "No, Kanda. I'm not letting you touch them, so go. I'm sure Jerry will get you more food one way or the other."

Pausing slightly, the two of them stared at each other, neither breaking each other's gaze in hopes that they would win the fight. The two children looked at them, left and right, left and right with bated breath to see the outcome. The onlookers watched as well. The air was still, tense in its silence.

Finally, Kanda looked away with a 'hn' under his breath and stalked off to the training grounds, muttering to himself. Lenalee blew out her held in breath and looked down at the two mischief-makers on her legs with some mixed exasperation and amusement. "You two really shouldn't aggravate him like that. It's not healthy for any of you. Especially not you." She laughed a bit with their wild grins of glee.

"But Lenalee," David piped up, sounding positively delighted at their little escapade. "It's really fun!"

"Really, really fun!" Jasdero butted in, giggling maniacally.

She shook her head, motherly instinct taking over as she led them over to the kitchen. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen to get you some real food to eat."

"Aw!"

---

_It was dark. The black moon cast a shadow over the red, a dark glow in the already dark atmosphere._

_Lenalee sobbed quietly, the sound tinny in her surroundings as she watched Allen slowly sink into the water, his anti-akuma weapon the only thing visible left until it vanished fully underneath. Lavi lay next to her, the blood from his wounds spilling a dark red over her lap and his mouth gaping open in a last shout before his death. Kanda was strewn over the next balcony, his body mangled and twisted over the stone pillars. Krory and Bookman were sinking into the water, their blood soaking the water a brilliant red. Komui was over in the corner, pieces of stone crushing his body._

_It was an exact replica of her dreams from before. This happened every night she was afraid, when she was frightened of anything that was going to happen._

_But there was a new addition to the dream. Two little bodies that were not there before in her previous dream repeats._

_Their corpses were lying on the lower levels of the pillars, their blood smearing over the white stone. Their blue eyes were open, glazed with all the life gone from them, their mouths gaping open, as if to scream something before they died. Their hands were intertwined with each other, as if not wanting to lose each other to the forces from beyond._

_It was too much._

"_No!" she screamed, pressing her hands to her mouth in horror. "Please, no! I'm begging you, please stop! Stop!" She screamed so loudly that it echoed in the empty space around her. _

_The pillars shuddered and began to crumble._

"Lenalee!" There was a shaking of her shoulder and she awoke with a start. She turned and stared.

The little boys from her dream were staring at her worriedly, their foreheads creased. "We heard you scream," David said, clambering up on top of the bed to rest next to her.

"Was it a bad dream?" Jasdero continued, climbing up on the other side and wrapping his little seven-year-old arms around her. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

To her surprise, Lenalee realized she was crying, little tears that ran down the sides of her cheeks and down the sides of her throat. She breathed a little to calm herself down before responding. "I'm fine you two." She smiled tearfully, trying to cheer the two up. "I'll be fine. You two need to go back to bed now, all right?"

The two looked at each other before looking back at her.

"Do you want us to stay?" David asked, his expression awkward and bumbling. Jasdero nodded, waiting for her approval.

She looked at them both for a while before responding. "I'd like that."

---

"Are you two ready?" Lenalee asked the two boys. The two of them were dressed in loose white undershirts that draped down past their knees, with baggy boxers that hung loosely around their knees. Both looked sleepy and anxious, gazing at the door in front of them with fear.

Komui had discovered the remedy at last in over two months. After much addition, removal, and mixing, he had concocted the final product with a great flourish and presented it to Lenalee with great pride, who had smiled encouragingly at him on the outside. On the inside however, it had been (and still was) a different story. She had grown to like the two children as they were now, not as the Noah's and demons that installed fear in everyone in sight. The simple fact was that she didn't want them to change back. As selfish as it was, she wanted them to stay, to keep with her and be with her. She didn't want to lose them.

_Was this the way a mother would feel?_ She asked herself later as she watched the two now, fearful and tired at six o' clock in the morning_. Is this the way a mother would feel when sending her children off to war, to something that she didn't understand? Was it?_

Jasdero reached for one arm, David for another. "Will you wait for us?" David asked, his eyes wide. He had grown less suspicious, less brash and angry over the last two months. _He had changed_, she thought distantly. They, all three of them, had changed considerably, for better or worse they didn't know, and intended to find out now.

She smiled at them bravely and brushed their hair back lightly. She felt tears rising up at the back of her eyes and a lump in her throat growing. She didn't know what was going to happen now. Would they remember who she was when they woke up again? If they woke up? Would they want to remember her?

"I always will," she answered, and watched them leave through the doors to the experimental room with the two finders by their side, and multiple thoughts began rushing through her head as she watched.

Lenalee had not known why they had grown so fond of her in the first place, why they had singled her out of all the people in the Order to cling on, to hold onto. She had never asked them, because it had seemed like a question that wasn't worthy of their attention.

Now she was regretting her decision and began to call after them, the doors slowly creaking shut. "Wai—"

She was too late. The doors slammed shut, and only then did Lenalee allow herself to burst into tears.

---

Over her head, Lenalee could hear voices, many voices of which were very familiar.

"Hey, David, when do you think Lenalee will wake up?" That was Jasdero, except much older sounding and without those strange noises that he used to make before.

"Don't know. Hey, Komui! When's Lenalee going to wake up, huh?" David? Yes, that was David.

"She's just tired, David. She should wake up sooner or later." Komui answered his question, and she could hear the rustling of paper in the background.

_They were still here._

Lenalee let her eyes fly open and she sat up immediately, earning some surprise and scrambling from the two teenagers sitting close to her bed. She swiveled her head around and stared, extremely surprised.

Well. There they were. Back to normal, the two of them, the counterparts, back into their old teenage bodies and minds. At least, she thought they were now in their teenage minds.

David and Jasdero were now both clad back in their old clothes from a long time ago, though they were worn out and dusty from the negligent use. They had no make-up on, thankfully, and their expressions were worried as they looked at her searchingly.

"L—Lenalee?" Jasdero asked cautiously. He leaned forward and looked at her. "Are you okay, Lenalee?" He sounded worried, as scared as the day he had met her. It sounded like he was afraid that now, since he wasn't a kid anymore, she would attack them with her bare hands.

David squirmed slightly in his chair, looking awkward and a bit relieved at her awakening. "Are you?" he mumbled, sounding a bit embarrassed. "We're not going to leave anywhere soon, so…" He trailed off and looked away off to the side, flushing a bit.

She stared at them. She couldn't believe they were actually still here, here with her in the Order and not back with the Millennium Earl and the other Noah.

She was so _happy_.

Lenalee smiled, reached out and hugged them both as tightly as she could without crushing them both in her tight embrace.

"Now I am."


End file.
